Tom,
If I take a look at how hanging out on the Wreck compares to other
activities in my life then I realize, without too much introspection,
that I would MUCH prefer to spend time in the woodshop. Comparing
further, I realize that I visit the Wreck when I have nothing else to
do - very rare these days - or I'm doing something that is not all
that compelling and a visit to the Wreck is a worthwhile distraction.
For example, sitting through very boring international teleconferences
late at night. Unfortunately, it only takes a few minutes to work my
way through the 1350 posts since my last visit - a period far too
short to gain full advantage during an hour's call.

I can confidently say that my woodworking has improved significantly
from things I've learned on the Wreck (not necessarily applying the
advice in the manner described, however). But like anything else,
there is a normal distribution of contributors, and visiting the Wreck
is really made worthwhile by the rare individual, such as you, who is
clearly several standard deviations above the norm (Note I used lower
case for 'norm'. It would be an interesting exercise to compare
against the Norm but I'm neither qualified nor see any value in such a
comparison). Unfortunately, I don't know the contributions of the
individuals you praised, being a relatively new visitor to the Wreck
and they have all departed. Equally, I don't really know the
'contributions' of the others you mentioned - probably having avoided
those threads.

The really good news is that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to
search for the gems from contributors who do have something worthwhile
to say. So I can safely say (knowing that I'll be having many telecons
in the future) that I'll be back and looking forward to it.

The lamentable part, and the part I think you are really addressing,
is that people who do have something to contribute are finding that it
is not worthwhile to participate. They already know the gems and need
to find a reason to contribute. I'm not sure why someone would want
to join the 'shouting match' just to share something with a rarely
appreciative audience. I guess we need to find some really boring
things for them to do so they can visit the Wreck while waiting for
the boring thing to end... I'm not sure what other incentive might
exist.

Tom